OKC Thunder: Making the case for Nick Collison to be in Basketball Hall of Fame
By Rylan Stiles
For Nick Collison, his biggest point per game season in Oklahoma City, came during the worst season in Thunder history. It was also the first season in Bricktown. That year, the team practiced in a converted skating rink, shuffled coaches, and lost 59-games. What was the highest points per game for Collison in OKC you might ask? Oh, 8.2-points per game.
Nick Collison never complained about the move. He never got down after practicing in the aforementioned skating rink, and he adjusted to every role the Thunder threw at him.
Most importantly, Nick Collison represented all of Oklahoma. He was not the most talented. He was not the flashiest. He did not get the respect and attention of the national media, or even the local media. He was quiet, he was calm, and he worked hard. Constantly being overlooked, his worth not being valued, and his kindness being mistaken for weakness.
That is all of the traits Oklahoma, a fly over state as described by many, and their citizens share with Collison. Collison, like most Thunder players always took his lunch pail to work. He never made waves, he never big leagued anyone, and you always knew what you would get from him each night. There is something to be said for that.
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There was that glorious 2011-12 campaign. The year the Thunder made the NBA Finals. In that season, Nick Collison averaged 7-points and 7-rebounds per 36-minutes. Collison posted a 3.5 in the Win Shares column. He had just a 10-percent usage rate, and he won 12-percent of the rebounds available to him. During that playoff run, Nick Collison had a 125-ORtg per 100 possessions, the highest of his career.
Nick Collison played a big role in the team’s success, and any player throughout OKC Thunder history will preach that.
Years from now. Five, ten, or even twenty. When you take your child, or even grandchild to Chesapeake Energy Arena, or whatever the arena is called at that time. The little child with you, bright-eyed, and bushy-tailed looks up to the rafters of the what feels like massive place where massive men play basketball. He or she turns to you after seeing the number 4 cling to the ceiling asks you why?
Well, Why is Nick Collison (going to be) in the rafters?
Is it a tribute to rim rattling dunks? No.
Three point splashes? Try again.
Behind the back Passes? Not even close.
Third Row Rejections? Probably not, considering the big man never even averaged one block per game.
Nick Collison will be in the rafters due to his insane fundamentals, selflessness, and effort.
Nick Collison will be in the rafters due to the bloody forehead game. Diving for loose balls, setting hard screens, dishing out hard fouls, and being in the right place at the right time.
Nick Collison will be in the rafters for accepting his role. For loving the people of Oklahoma City as they did him. Nick Collison will be in the rafters for being a leader, a mentor, and the first gray head in Thunder Basketball History.